I would go for the beam rifle because, even though hand-to- hand combat is at times inevitable I like to fight at mid to long range. And because when needed, you can give covering fire for your team mates when they need it most. The support role on the field is were I think my potential would be.

This is situational due to the fact that sabers and rifles excel in different criteria for obvious reasons since beam sabers are used for close range/quarters combat while rifles excel in mid range/long range combat.

It would be better if compare a beam with a different weapon but eh what am I going to complain about.